More asylum seekers cross into Kenya

Twelve more Ethiopians have crossed into Kenya seeking political asylum, the Kenyan ‘Daily Nation’ reported on Thursday. A colonel and two majors crossed the border on Wednesday morning, while nine soldiers crossed over on Wednesday night, the paper said. All the new arrivals are being held at the Moyale police station in northern Kenya. There is tension in the town due to fear that the Ethiopian forces may invade the town in search of the deserters, the ‘Daily Nation’ said. The paper quotes a military source who said that efforts were being made to transfer the asylum seekers to a safer location. Some 103 university students also accompanied the soldiers in the latest crossing, the paper said.

Defections by asylum seekers began after student protests and riots in Addis Ababa in April, and the assassination last month of the Ethiopian head of national security, Kinfe Gebremedhin.